[alper]

It’s against money laundering. Onerous regulations being interpreted highly defensively create these kind outcomes.

Neither the people creating the legislations nor the people at Apple responsible for these flows care very much about collateral damage.

[cameldrv]

I think it's a combination of money laundering and phone scams where people are told they owe money to the IRS or something and are tricked into buying a bunch of gift cards.

That said, if buying and redeeming gift cards are such an indicator of fraud that people are legitimately afraid of getting their accounts permanently locked, why doesn't Apple just stop selling them?

[GoblinSlayer]

Apple keeps money from the gift card after banning you. Just business, nothing personal.